All SME entrepreneurs to be trained on computing
Barua tells visiting IT training workshop
Staff Correspondent

The SME Foundation has imparted five-day training on computing to 80 small entrepreneurs, half of whom are rural women, to help them market their products on the web. The course, started on September 25 at city’s BIAM auditorium, will facilitate them in finding prospective buyers both home and abroad, SMEF officials said.

Basic computing course styled “E-Marketing for SMEs” will also assist them in pursuing office affairs especially in small enterprises which can not afford to appoint offices assistants, they added. Earlier the Foundation had trained up 120 SME entrepreneurs from across the country on SME related ICT free of cost. Officials said in next phases, SMEF will arrange such trainings at divisional headquarters to minimise participants’ hassles due to long traveling to the capital from remote areas. Gradually country’s all SME entrepreneurs would be trained on computing as part of government’s pledges, Industries Minister Dilip Barua while visiting the event Thursday evening, said.

“SME Foundation is providing training to SME entrepreneurs to make them competent for E-marketing. The training will be expanded to all small entrepreneurs,” Barua, also the Chairman of SMEF, said. “Efficient use of knowledge of ICT earned through this training will help your respective businesses,” he hoped. SMEF managing director Syed Rezwanul Kabir, deputy general manager Eng Mujibur Rahman also accompanied the Minister. Later, Rezwanul Kabir give away certificates among the participants.

E-commerce has already been proved to be a safe mode of product transfer and a quick and cost-effective tool for campaign worldwide. Total size of such commercial activities stood at $ 407 billion in 2011, from $133 in 2006. in Britain, France and Germany 72 percent of total retail traded are accomplished through e-commerce, official data suggest.

DHAKA, Sept 30: The digital e-purjee system introduced in the sugar mills a year back has ensured a faster delivery order to the sugarcane growers putting the production of sugar up by 38,760 tonne in 2010-11 seasons. “Issuance of hand written purjee in the manual system takes at lest 7-10 days causing a reduction of earning due to weight loss of sugarcane extraction from the field,” said Mahmud-ul- Haque Bhuiya, chairman of Bangladesh Sugar and Food Industries Corporation (BSFIC).

He said after successful introduction of digital e-purjee system through mobile SMS make available purjee in a minute that contribute significantly in the profit earning.

Due to the easier process of e-purjee, farmers supplied 15,81,907 tonne of sugarcane in the season that was almost double compared to the previous crop season.The turn up of issued purjee has also been increased by 10.53 per cent after the introduction of electronic system, he added.

Inspired by the success, BSFIC has planned to bring 2.5 lakh acre of land into sugarcane cultivation this season while it was 1.60 lakh acres last year. The term ‘purjee’ refers to the order of buying the sugarcanes from the farmers.

The ‘e-purjee’ is the system where farmer get the order of buying sugarcane through SMS in his mobile instantly after issuing the purjee by computer software. But, in the manual system, the purjee was sent to the farmer by hand that’s why they didn’t get the purjee on time, although it had a validity of 3-day.

Meanwhile, BSFIC has aimed to introduce online puriee from the upcoming season so that farmer could collect the printed copy of purjee where internet is available. Union Parishad Information Service Centre would be used for the job.

Beside, it has also planned to publish the puriee gazette online by what the farmer is able to know the mill’s action plan of sugarcane crushing.Officials of BSFIC said the 15 sugar mills produced 1,00,963 tonne of sugar in 2010-11 seasons while in 2009-10 season they had produced 62,203 tonne of sugar before e-purjee.

They said the production has been boosted as the farmer supplied fresh sugarcane on time due to the e-purjee.Officials said the e-purjee has been distributed among the farmers of 15 sugar mills in November 2010 after the successful completion of e-purjee pilot project.

Access to Information (A2I) Programme of Prime Minister’s Office along with and funded by BSFIC started the pilot project of e-purjee at the Faridpur and Moarakganj Sugar Mills on 17 November 2009 to diminish the sufferings of the farmers.Later, A2I and BSFIC have trained 1500 sugarcane farmers and 1500 field workers to motivate all the farmers.

To make the programme successful, server room with software and hardware, internet and web-cam have been installed at all the sugar mills.

Some 200,000 sugarcane farmers have been informed about the e- purjee information service through 1500 farmer-meetings across the country.

The A2I and BSFIC is providing on an average 20,000 SMS everyday among the farmers about the information on e-purjee and payment of sugarcane free of cost.

The country has achieved almost 30 percent growth in export in the first quarter of the fiscal 2011- 12 mainly due to buyers shifting of imports from China and South Korea to Bangladesh and improved compliance to the factories, reports BSS.

According to a primary estimate by the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB), the overall export earning in the first three months of the fiscal surpassed 6400 million US dollar against 5600 million US dollar of the previous year. This is 800 million US dollar higher during the first quarter of the previous year.

“We haven’t received the final data on the three months exports but we are estimating that growth for the three months period would cross over 30 percent”, Jalal Ahmed, EPB Vice Chairman told the news agency on Tuesday.

He said in the current fiscal the country is earning over 2.2 billion US dollar from exports in every month compared to 2 billion US dollar during the same period of the last year.

International buyers mainly from the USA and Europe have increased import of apparels from Bangladesh shifting from China and South Korea, he said.

Jalal said Bangladesh has been competing in both quality and price with other apparels exporters during the last couple of years.

He said the conducive business environment, created by the government in collaboration with the private sector, contributed to the export surge.

“I am not claiming that the country has been able to create cent percent working atmosphere but I can assure that the situation has improved significantly,” Ahmed added.

The EPB Vice-Chairman said though there is no study on productivity of Bangladeshi factories, the production in the factories has significantly improved during the last couple of years.

“If the productivity rate is officially measured it would be found how the Bangladeshi factories have improved production scenario in the context of both quality and price,” Ahmed claimed.

The government has set an export target of 26.5 billion US dollar in the current fiscal (2011-12) against the previous year’s export earning of 22.92 billion US dollar.

All the major Bangladeshi items, including woven, knitwear, textile, footwear and frozen foods, recorded over 30 percent growth during the period, according to the EPB primary data.

Dhaka, Sept 29: Healthcare Pharmaceuticals Ltd., one of Bangladesh’s leading pharmaceutical companies, has received the prestigious “International Star Award for Quality, Geneva 2011” from Business Initiative Directions (BID) at the 36th Quality Convention at Geneva, Switzerland recently, says a press release. The award marks an extremely significant milestone for the company as it symbolises international recognition for the company’s unflinching commitment to quality, leadership, technology and innovation spanning a period of more than six years.

Md Halimuzzaman, chief executive officer of Healthcare Pharmaceuticals, received the award from Jose E. Prieto, president of BID. The award is the first ever in Bangladesh in Pharmaceuticals sector.

Commerce Minister Faruk Khan met 50 German business leaders at a programme in Germany on Wednesday. They were representatives from the shipping industry, readymade garments, importers, bank, power companies, chamber, media and branding companies.

Hamburg Chamber of Commerce and German Asia Pacific Business Association (OAV) jointly organised the meeting.

Peter Clasen, owner of Wilhelm G Clasen eK and president of the country committee on Bangladesh in OAV, delivered the welcome address.

Khan spoke on the recent achievements of Bangladesh in various sectors. He mentioned that Bangladesh-German trade has been increasing every year, and it exceeded $4 billion last year.

“Bangladesh has now become the third largest apparel supplier in the globe. It has achieved GDP growth of 6 percent which has been increasing.”

He invited German businesspeople to visit Bangladesh and invest in potential sectors like infrastructures, including shipbuilding, pharmaceuticals, light engineering and other high tech industries.

Bangladeshi Ambassador to Germany Mosud Mannan, President of Bangladesh-German Chamber of Commerce and Industries Saiful Islam and its Executive Director Daniel Seidl also spoke.

The minister also invited German businesspeople to visit German Trade Show in Dhaka in October 2011.

Private mobile phone operator Robi has come out to facilitate readers with internet services at all seven divisional public libraries.

The company yesterday launched the campaign at Sufia Kamal Public Library at Shahbagh.

Users will be able to explore the world on the free internet, said Robi officials. The operator launched the campaign with some computers and internet modems free of cost. They said it will not charge for usage at the internet corners.

With support of the public libraries department, Robi will establish the internet corners at the divisional public libraries to give an opportunity to all to know about the benefits of the internet, said Robi officials.

The two vessels built by Western Marine Shipyard for a German shipping company are set to sail for Germany tomorrow.

The Western Marine will hand over the two vessels to the German shipping company Grona Shipping GmbH Co. KG at a function today.

All the formalities for the final delivery have already been completed at the head office of the Western Marine Shipyard Ltd, according to a message received yesterday.

The two vessels– EMSWAVE and EMSTIDE– are the fifth and the sixth of the series of eight sister ships that was built by Western Marine for Grona.

Managing director of Grona, Ebbe Prins and managing director of Western Marine, Md Sakhawat Hossain signed the vessel acceptance and delivery deals on behalf of their respective organisations.

The fleet manager of Grona Markku Vedder, managing director of class-GL Bangladesh AKM Masud Karim and the representative of the shipyard in Europe, Lars Brenneke were present among others during the signing ceremony.

Western Marine has been successful to export six vessels of the same series in nine months — the shortest span of time as no shipbuilders has so far been able to deliver within this time. These ships are 5200 DWT ice class multi-purpose ships which comprise all the latest marine technologies. This is said to be the biggest achievement for the Western Marine and Bangladesh shipbuilding industry.

Hossain said: “Western Marine has never compromised with the quality and compliance with the international standard. This has taken us to the peak of success in this industry.”

He also said, the owners expressed their deepest satisfaction over the high quality of the ships built by the Western Marine. They admitted that this is the best pair which will be added to their fleet of vessels, he said.

Chairman of the shipyard also expected that this achievement will bring for us more international orders in the coming days.

The Western Marine is currently building around twenty-six vessels for the local and foreign buyers and the number is growing.